The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1887-03-31
COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE.
Fort Defiance Items,

Reported for the VIRGINIAN.I
Rev. Mr.Bitzer organized singing elias
onSunday evening, at the. Augusta Church
for the purpose of instructing the Sabbath
School pupils in gospel music.
AS we write the eqhinoetial storm is rag
ing, showing and raining alternately.
A great deal of blowing has been done
during the last week.
1t is astonishing how affable and polite
so m any gentlemen have become lately
There is more politeness and affability cir
culating over the county now than we have
known foi 10, these many years. Ever
Mr.. L. Il. N. Speck and Mr.. 3. r. Terry
were perambu1ating around our nelghbor-
hood few days since, shaking cordially
the horny hand of the laboring man." Ii
fact, they seemed to have business will
everybody, men, women and children.
There IS considerable sickness over oul
community, and Drs. Bell and Crawford
are kept cutie busy.
john Jales, aged fifteen Or sixteen, son
of Joseph Jones, co'ored, died of pneumo-
nia.tat h3ss fasi-srs residence, in Mt. Sid
ney. on Sunday evening last.
-Four years ago Mr.. Samuel Byers, oi
Shamoken Run, near Burk's MILL paid q
a visit to the enterprsing importers Of
heavy draft horses, Messrs. Powell Bros.
Of Pennsylvania, and brought back with
him g magnificent imported Clydesdale
stallion at a cost of $4,000. Some of his
less enterprising neighbors shook theii
heads and expressed surprise that so saga
cious and sensible man as they had al
ways thought Mr.. Byers to be, should in
vest so large sum in one horse Mr.. Is,
paid 10 attention to the intimations Of his
loss of reason, but pursuing the even tenor
of his way, put his horse upon the stand
at very moderate insurance, and received
very fair patronage from the farmers OF
the county. The next summer he called
upon his patrons to assemble at Meyers
Cave Station, V. r. r., to exhibit thei1
colts, offering premium of $50 for the
best and $40 for the second best colt ex-
hibited. Some fifty-odd colts competed
for the premiums, and in point of general
excellence, no such exhibition Of colts had
ever before been witnessed by any one OF
the vast crowd present. Skepticism as tc
Mr.. Byers good sense and business sagac
ity vanished, and I'M report of the exhibit
ton for the VIRGINIAN, we predicted a
great Improvement in the stock Of draft
horses Of the county. That prediction is
| beginning to be verified. Those fifty colts
though none of them have reached the end
of their third year. have nearly all already
been III the harness ; they are Of fine size
and remarkably dociie, and as was the case
with them as sucklings, We have failed to
find an inferior animal amongst them. The
peculiarly kind and gentle disposition OF
these colts was forcibIy demonstrated a
few days since by Mr.. Byers, when be
harnessed up four of them that had never
locked through collar before, and with
out any difficulty drove a four-in-h hand
team TO bis spring wagon some five miles
to this place. We venture the assertion
that no farmer in Augusta county ever
befele harnessed four colts for the first
time ard drove them together. Mr.. Byers,
from the first has exe8pli6ed his faith in
the Clydesdale by his works, and has
each year bought all the colts he could get
at big prices, and has now large herd
ranging from six months to about three
years old. It is rare treat to any lover of
horse flesh to visit his stables.
We will say to our SangersYille friend
that we declined to accept post office un-
der the late Republican administration
with pays at double that the Sangersvilie
pays, but since the Democratic par
ty has ruled the nation we have found such
difficulty in making living and have been
reduced to such necessity that we will &C.
cept anything, even a small post office.
Aside from considerations of pecuniary
nature, knowing as we do, the utter impos-
slbility of finding enough competent Dem
ocrats to fill the several offices satisfaction
lily, patriotism prompts us to lend a help
ing hand, especially when so urgently i'm
portuned for assistance. AS to your pre-
dictions in regard to Grover with us,
they make assurance doubly sure" for
we have long since learned to note carefully
all your political representations and then
look certainly for exactly the reverse.
S. M. w.